First Bluegrass Festival

[Westerly Wood]

Sorry to hear.....coming from someone who had a violin wedged under his chin since the age of 5!
IMO, it's the instrument that makes or breaks a potential world class bluegrass act.

That’s cool you grew up playing violin. I bet it helped guitar learning.

 

[Midnight Toker]

That’s cool you grew up playing violin. I bet it helped guitar learning.

It initially did w/ single notes/soloing. Chords took me a bit to grasp, being double stops is as far as it goes on a violin. But to put it this way....it took me 2-3 years before I could play one good clean note on a violin. I was playing lead guitar in a band within 6 months of picking up the guitar. It all came pretty easily. You can liken it to learning how to drive an F1 car.....then hopping in a go cart. Violin is easily 100x harder, not to mention often playing 20 min long classical pieces....as opposed to playing tunes like The Who's I Cant Explain....which barely clocks in over 2 minutes!!

 

[Westerly Wood]

It initially did w/ single notes/soloing. Chords took me a bit to grasp, being double stops is as far as it goes on a violin. But to put it this way....it took me 2-3 years before I could play one good clean note on a violin. I was playing lead guitar in a band within 6 months of picking up the guitar. It all came pretty easily. You can liken it to learning how to drive an F1 car.....then hopping in a go cart. Violin is easily 100x harder, not to mention often playing 20 min long classical pieces....as opposed to playing tunes like The Who's I Cant Explain....which barely clocks in over 2 minutes!!

I tried the cello once at a shop. Always figured I could just play it. Man was I wrong. It was so hard, I just sat it down and walked away. It’s like drums, I just can’t do it.

 

[Midnight Toker]

I can sort of play cello. (It’s really just a big assed violin) but I have to think inverse bowing being you’re holding it upside down compared to a violin. Otherwise, I can make it sound decent enough for playing some easy parts if I were to multitrack my own string section. When you spend 20+ years playing in string ensembles and orchestras, all the downtime allows folks to mingle and try out each other’s instruments. I once made it a point to at least learn how to get one clean note out of everything…from piccolo to bassoon! I doubt all that communal spit would go down too well nowadays!

 

[davismanLV]

The fiddle is super important to me. When I need to rate a bluegrass band, I listen to the fiddle player. And I like it. A LOT!!!

 

[davismanLV]

I had two riding students who both played flute. It was so difficult for me and I kept getting light headed and almost passing out. Lost my drive to learn flue and just stuck with piano. Boy did I get dizzy!!

 

[Midnight Toker]

I had two riding students who both played flute. It was so difficult for me and I kept getting light headed and almost passing out. Lost my drive to learn flue and just stuck with piano. Boy did I get dizzy!!

Bell mouthpiece instruments can take their toll as well for the first time. The bigger the horn, the redder the face if you don’t know what you’re doing. It’s all about control. The way it was explained to me, ”You know the sound and pressure of a “silent but deadly” fart? Do that with your mouth into the mouthpiece!

 

[Roland]

I have a fiddle that belonged to my grandfather. He brought it back from France after WWI so well over a hundred years old. He died long before I was born. My mom said he would go to the bars at night and play the fiddle, then come home in the wee hours of the morning half tipped with his pockets full of money. She was just small when he died so I'm not sure how accurate that is. It is hanging on the wall going down to the bar in our basement. I can't play it but it gives me inspiration when I play my guitar just knowing the story.

 

[Midnight Toker]

I have a fiddle that belonged to my grandfather. He brought it back from France after WWI so well over a hundred years old. He died long before I was born. My mom said he would go to the bars at night and play the fiddle, then come home in the wee hours of the morning half tipped with his pockets full of money. She was just small when he died so I'm not sure how accurate that is. It is hanging on the wall going down to the bar in our basement. I can't play it but it gives me inspiration when I play my guitar just knowing the story.

Any tags or markings visible in the left side F hole? My best violin is around 110-120 yrs old….and looks the part, but sounds it as well!!

 

[5thumbs]

We went to see Jim Croce at the Quiet Knight in Chicago in 1972 or '73. When he took a break some guy (I have no idea who) took the stage with an electric fiddle.

"This is gonna suck", I thought to myself.

I was wrong. He rocked! I had enjoyed bluegrass fiddle before but never really listened to the instrument. Hearing it solo, played by a very talented player changed my appreciation forever.

 

[Roland]

Any tags or markings visible in the left side F hole? My best violin is around 110-120 yrs old….and looks the part, but sounds it as well!!

 

[Midnight Toker]

What you have is a...maybe...but likely not. Francois Salzard is a family brand that started w/ a single maker around 1740, and continued w/ his sons and employees (much like my John Juzek from Prague) until the very late 1800's. The difference between an original made by the man himself, or his kids, grandkids/numerous apprentices....can range from a 5 to 20 thousand dollar instrument....to a $250- $800 fiddle. Chances are, given the volume, it'll likely be the latter......but you never know! I'd fancy having it appraised!! Or maybe check high end violin auction sites for past sales/appraisals that show multiple pics of labels, head scrolls...anything to tell if it's the real deal or not. (Some sites you'll have to register to.

 

[Roland]

What you have is a...maybe...but likely not. Francois Salzard is a family brand that started w/ a single maker around 1740, and continued w/ his sons and employees (much like my John Juzek from Prague) until the very late 1800's. The difference between an original made by the man himself, or his kids, grandkids/numerous apprentices....can range from a 5 to 20 thousand dollar instrument....to a $250- $800 fiddle. Chances are, given the volume, it'll likely be the latter......but you never know! I'd fancy having it appraised!! Or maybe check high end violin auction sites for past sales/appraisals that show multiple pics of labels, head scrolls...anything to tell if it's the real deal or not. (Some sites you'll have to register to.

Thanks for the info. I suppose for insurance purposes it would be nice to know what it is worth. It has just been laying around as long as I can remember, first my grandma's house, then my mom's. I've had it for twenty years at least. My mom used to play it once in a while. I have the old case for it and the bow as well.

 

[sailingshoes72]

You should get the bow checked out too! Sometimes a rare vintage bow can be worth more than the violin. It’s worth looking into.

 

[Roland]

I had never seriously wondered how much money my grandpa's old fiddle and bow is worth but I got to thinking about it last night. It was the topic of conversation during this morning's walk. I don't think that I care to know. It hangs precariously over the stairs going down to the bar in the basement where I often times go to play my guitar. I don't want to start looking up there and thinking about how much money it hanging there.

 

[Midnight Toker]

I had never seriously wondered how much money my grandpa's old fiddle and bow is worth but I got to thinking about it last night. It was the topic of conversation during this morning's walk. I don't think that I care to know. It hangs precariously over the stairs going down to the bar in the basement where I often times go to play my guitar. I don't want to start looking up there and thinking about how much money it hanging there.

Either way, 100+ yr old French violins (and bows especially...for France) will only increase in value. And even if it's not a 5k+ instrument, and one of the later ones valued closer to $500-800, it's still a very fine sounding high quality instrument that would be a proud piece of family history.

But just to give you an idea....of what "could" be. (again, the likelihood of it being a later violin of the same family brand is much greater than being a prized mid 17th cent violin built by Francois himself.)

François Salzard – Beautiful French Violin – SOLD APRIL 4, 2024 – | J.R. Judd Violins

 

[Westerly Wood]

I do like the violin solo at end of Baba. Does that count?

 

[Rocky]

I think some of the "Nazareth-only" snobbery in bluegrass circles started to diminish when some of the bigger names in bluegrass started playing Collings, Bourgeois and other small makers.

 

[Teleguy61]

I friend of mine would go to them from time to time 35+ years ago. He said they were really snooty. If you didn't have a Martin, you didn't play. Oh, and it had to be the right Martin meaning D-28 or maybe a D-18. Even his '76 Martin D-35 wasn't "right". Glad that it looks like those days are over.

I doubt they are over.
Bluegrass fanatics are exactly that--fanatics.
There is only one way, and that is the way Bill Monroe played it.

 

[Westerly Wood]

I think Martin US made dreads are great! They still to me, while a bity bassy, are a good measure of luthier skill and craftmanship, not to mention Martin's historical significance.